The short answer: choose 20mm porcelain if you want minimal maintenance and perfectly consistent colour; choose natural limestone if you want a patio that looks better at year ten than at year one and flows seamlessly from your indoor floor. Both handle UK weather — the difference is character and care.
Sawn limestone paving in a Cotswolds cottage garden — one of our customer projects.
Where porcelain wins
Outdoor porcelain is fired dense, so it absorbs almost no water. That means no sealing, high frost resistance, and colour that never changes. Spilt wine, moss, barbecue fat — it cleans off with soapy water. If you want a crisp, contemporary terrace that behaves the same every year, 20mm porcelain is the sensible choice.
Anthracite porcelain paving — consistent colour, minimal upkeep.
Where natural stone wins
Limestone weathers — and that is precisely its charm. A tumbled Dijon or Egyptian limestone patio softens and mellows with the seasons until it looks like it has always been there. It can run from your kitchen through bifold doors to the garden in the same stone, something porcelain can only imitate. It asks a little more of you: a seal after laying and an occasional clean.
A limestone patio ageing gracefully outside a converted flint barn.
The practical comparison
- Maintenance: porcelain — almost none; limestone — seal after installation, re-seal occasionally.
- Looks over time: porcelain stays as bought; limestone gains character.
- Slip resistance: both available in outdoor-rated finishes.
- Indoor–outdoor flow: limestone matches exactly; porcelain matches approximately.
- Wastage to order: add 5% for porcelain, 10–15% for natural stone.
Still unsure?
Order free cut samples of both and leave them outside for a fortnight — rain, sun and boots. The right answer is usually obvious by the weekend. Browse outdoor paving or call us on 01903 889888 and describe your garden; we will tell you honestly which we would lay.